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Tires for 18 inch wheels on Sahara?

35K views 27 replies 11 participants last post by  Bbannongmu 
#1 ·
I'm expecting to take delivery on a 2016 Sahara sometime mid September, and have been talking to my dealer about the possibility of swapping out the stock tires for something a little bit more aggressive looking tread pattern. I would also like a wider tire, and no so much interested in a taller tire as I expect my most common "challenge" driving this thing might be soft sand.

Yeah, I've found the monster thread about this called "Largest tire on stock JK? Here's your answer!", but honestly haven't waded through every page of that yet. So far I just have not found the answer I am looking for.

What I want to know is the widest tire I can fit on the stock 18" Sahara wheels (and no, I'm not interested in going to 17" as I ordered the optional 7 spoke wheels, so for now I want to stick with them.). I don't want to put spacers in the bump stops as I do not want to limit the turning radius any. Since the dealer would be mounting these tires and I'm not really interested in paying dealer prices to install any sort of lift, this is going to be on stock suspension as well. I know this sounds kind of goofy, but this is a little complicated. I'm driving from north Florida to Texas to pick up this Jeep, and if I could trade in the stock tires towards wider after market, it would have to happen this way. Obviously I cannot put a lift in myself, under the circumstances, I can't see any other way to go about this. Yeah, when it is back home, I could put in a lift kit and then have more selections for tires, but that just is not in the cards.

BTW, I've been looking at tires for these vehicles and am surprised at the weight of them. I'm used to Corvette tires, I guess, which are relatively feather weight. I bought a set of GoJaks not that long ago, and something tells me I'm going to be REALLY glad I got them when I have to pull the wheels and tires off of the Jeep. I did a review of them if anyone is interested -> GoJak model 4520 - The ALL Florida Online Corvette Club

Anyway, would appreciate some guidance from people in the know about this sort of stuff.
 
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#3 ·
subscribed. i've to a '12 with the 18" wheels and i've probably got about another 10k on my stock tires. so i'll be looking for something different/a bit more aggressive come buying time.

i wouldn't be against a leveling kit or a small budget boost type adjustment. but certainly don't want the typical lift given i rarely go offroad and when i do it's usually a fire/log road in FL or NC.
 
#4 ·
You are probably going to hate this answer but it depends. I have worked on Jeeps with nearly same exact set ups and one had some minor rubbing with wider tire and the other had no rubbing. There are dozens of different spring and equipment combos on Jeeps so it's hard to tell. I'm guessing you would like something like a 275/65 R18 or a 265/70 R18. Maybe a BF Goodrich KO2 or. Goodyear Duratrac to name two very popular choices. The 275 width is about 11 ish inches and might rub slightly at lock and may run on the plastic air dam which is an easy trim to fix. The 265 might also rub because it's a bit taller also on the plastic air dam. Are you against Spidertrax spacers? They can add the offset/reduce the back spacing to clear wider tired for about $200. Some are concerned about safety but if you buy quality, install them properly and retorque when rotating tires you won't have a problem
 
#6 ·
I am presuming that the only option I will have at the dealer is simply swapping the rubber. I'm assuming no wheel spacers, no washers, no trimming or cutting of body panels, nothing but pull the old rubber off of the rims and put on the new rubber. So that is going to have to be the constraints I will be operating under.

That being said, does anyone know whether River Oaks Chrysler/Jeep in Houston TX, habitually does performance changes to the Jeeps they sell? Honestly I am going to hate paying someone else to do anything beyond just the tire swaps, because I feel I will be perfectly capable of doing most of it myself. But this is an extenuating circumstance that I only have one shot doing while the Jeep is BRAND NEW at the dealership without costing me unnecessary funds later. Once I have driven all over the west and then back home to north Florida, the stock tires really aren't going to be trade-in worthy any longer.

BTW, I really don't see me ever having to disconnect the swaybars. After I pick up the Jeep in Texas, the wife and I plan on continuing heading out West and maybe taking a modest trail or two that look interesting. But no, I'm not going to be climbing rock faces or trying to cross river beds.

Just trying to keep this in perspective, as I know there are a whole lot of really hard core jeepers here. I'm just not going to be one of them. I'm thinking I may be going through desert areas where soft sand will be an issue. When I get back home, I KNOW I will be driving on soft sand roads in the Apalachicola National Forest.

Heck, maybe the stock tires will just be OK for what I want. I've even heard rumors that the tires might be different on the 2016s, but of course that sort if info comes rather salty.

Thanks....
 
#9 ·
OK, using that as a base, I'm looking at the Terra Grappler G2.

Terra Grappler G2 All-Terrain Light Truck Radial Tires

For that size tire they are showing a height of 33.19 inches and an overall width of 10.98 inches. So how does "overall width" relate to actual "tread width"? I'm trying to make sure I am comparing apples to apples.

They also offer a 275/65/18 showing a tire height of 32.09 inches and an overall width of the same (10.98 inches). Would the shorter tire actually be a better choice to avoid any rubbing?

Oh yeah, is that sort of tread design going to be OK for loose sand?

Thanks!
 
#8 ·
When I purchased my 08" JKU Sahara, it had 275/65-18 Mastercraft A/T tires. Completely stock and I had no rub whatsoever, even at full lock. Section width=11.05", diameter=32.10". Tread Depot has no less than 59 different tires in this particular size so you could get just about any kind you wanted.

(Of course it didn't stay like this for very long)
 
#11 ·
Bringing this back up to the front burner.

Looks like 275/65R18 would be my best bet with no other changes to the Sahara itself.

Now if I were to think about using spacers, what would that give me concerning other options? I'm not really too interested in a taller tire, but would like a wider one considering that loose sugar sand might be the only challenges I'm anticipating facing. Would spacers move the rubbing from the inside of the wheel to the outside on the lip of the fender well?

And how wide of a tread can I go on those stock 7.5 inch wide rims? I do regret ordering the optional 7 spoke wheels because of their narrow specs and back spacing, but what is done is done. Trying to make the best of a choice that could have been better.

And, of course, this is all riding on the dealership offering me some trade-in value on those stock tires. I won't have any way to get them back home, and am not too inclined to just chuck them in the dumpster at the dealership.
 
#14 ·
With the 275s you may need spacers to stop rubbing on the airdam.


I have been running the stock bridgestones and with the air dropped to 20psi they perform fairly well in sandy conditions.
To the point i easily outclimbed a Rubicon in sand that was running BFG MTs @ 35psi recently.
 
#16 ·
I suggest you check out Kelly Safari TSR's, Great tire, not a full blown mud tire
and not a Highway/All Terrain tire....
I put a set on my JKU on my new 16" wheels, I really like em, quiet and plenty of traction
in mud and snow.
There is at least one guy on this forum thats running these on 18" Sahara wheels
and he suggested them to me . "BH"
 
#20 ·
I checked them out, and they do look pretty sharp. Got a lot of good reviews, too. Thanks for the tip.

I spent a good bit of time reading up on wheel spacers, particularly the ones from Spidertrax and Terraflex, and I don't think I would have any qualms using good quality spacers. But won't they be overkill for me? I'm limited by the 7.5" wheel diameter on those 7 spoke Sahara wheels so it's unlikely I can go to a much wide tire than the 275/65R18 anyway. But if I COULD go to a wider tire on those narrow rims, then yeah, this would open up more possibilities.

When putting on wider tires on stock Sahara rims with a stock suspension, where would the rubbing of the wider tires be experienced? The air dam? By how much? Enough to just be an irritant at full lock of the steering wheel, or damage to the tires?

Well, with any luck, my Sahara will be delivered in about 3 weeks if the estimates are accurate. So I can keep on digging for info and advice in the meantime.

Thanks...
 
#21 ·
Might consider checking with dealer for a local tire shop to do the swap. Or Google locate on close to the dealer. IMO you could find one part of national "Best Tire" warranty. This would be cheaper. Also they may include road hazard and rotations. Could also have tires waiting for you. Take an hour or two of the extra day for this. Disadvantage they won't roll that cost of new rubber into the payment. But the tire shop SHOULD give you sometho ng for them.
 
#26 ·
You can run a 35x12.50 ( 315 wide in metric) on the stock rim with 1.5 wheel spacers but it is supposedly less than ideal and some tire shops wont do it because the tire will bulge slightly and many tire shops unreasonably refuse to work with wheel spacers. Tons of people do this with zero issues. A 11.50 (295 in metric) is no issue on stock rim . If you use flat fenders and adjust bump stops, you could go to this 35 setup with no lift and the only potential rubbing would be the plastic air dam. If you want to run factory flares you'll need 2.5 or so inches of lift to clear the flares. There is a great newbies guide to lifting in the tech forum with tons of info.
 
#27 ·
Btw I am running a 295/70r18 Cooper StMaxx on my factory Sahara rims on a Rancho 2" Sport lift plus teraflex rear springs and a Daystar 3/4" puck at each corner. I run 1.5 wheel spacers. Zero rubbing and I off road. Men is the white one, for reference.
 

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